Monday, December 07, 2015

Lever Action Carbines for Defense

Recently I was able to get some shooting in over a friend's house (he lives in the country). One of the guns I shot was my Rossi 92 lever action in .357 Magnum. It's a replica of the Winchester 1892, designed by John Moses Browning. Shooting the R92 got me to thinking about the practical application of this 19th Century design in late 2015, especially in light of current events.

Those of us who live in free states have unfettered access to modern defensive rifles like AR-15s, with full capacity magazines. However, if you live in a ban state such as New York, unless you're willing to break the law, no more standard capacity magazines will be available. If you're just now looking to get a defensive rifle, modern semiautos and acessories may be limited in availability.

In my opinion, a lever action is a viable alternative, even though the basic design is a century and a half old. If we're looking at a rifle for defense against bad guys (as opposed to dangerous animals) the ones to look at are those which fire handgun cartridges. Although there are several other options, if buying a levergun for social purposes I suggest that you choose one in .357 Magnum, .44 Magnum, or .45 Colt. These are currently the most common such cartridges and are easy to reload for.

Of these three, my first pick is the .357 Magnum. Ammunition is widely available at less cost than .44 Magnum or .45 Colt, it provides effective terminal ballistics, and recoil is mild.

From rifle length barrels, magnum revolver cartridges get a big performance boost. For example, a .357 Magnum 158 grain bullet that leaves a 4" revolver barrel at about 1250 FPS will probably be doing at least 1700 - 1800 FPS from a 20" carbine. .357 loads with 125 grain bullets can exceed 2,000 FPS from a rifle! The muzzle energy of a .357 Magnum round fired from a rifle can be double that of the same load fired from a handgun.

Compared with a shotgun, lever action carbines have less recoil, smaller and lighter ammo, and greater magazine capacity (generally speaking).

Currently, the Rossi 92 is probably the most commonly available pistol caliber levergun. The Marlin 1894 is still around, but 1894s in .357 seem to scarce as hen's teeth. There are also Winchester 1894s in .357, .44, and .45 available on the used gun market, if you can find one.

In the 20" barreled version, it weighs in at about 5 pounds. Even my 11 year old daughter is able to shoulder it.

The .357 Magnum carbines have very mild recoil, even with full power loads. I've single loaded .38 wadcutters, which recoil like and sound like a .22 when fired from the 20" barreled carbine. This is great for familiarization firing for new shooters, and can also be used for small game.

The design includes a built-in gunlock incorporated into the hammer. It is unobtrusive and is locked/unlocked with a key included with the rifle. If you want to secure a loaded rifle outside of a safe, it's one of the better solutions I've seen. IMO, it's safer than gun locks that go in the trigger guard.

Rossi 92s are reasonably priced and readily available, although you might need to order one through a local FFL or from an online retailer.

While my rifle is blued steel, Rossi also makes the 92 in stainless steel. If you need a rifle for a boat or other humid environment this is definitely a big plus.

Some things I don't care for:

There are some rough edges inside the loading gate that I need to debur. They can chew on your fingers when loading the magazine.

Several years ago Rossi added a manual safety on top of the bolt to John Browning's original design. It feels cheap and cheezy. I removed mine and replaced it with a plug from Steve's Gunz. The gun still has the original half cock on the hammer.

The magazine follower is a cheap piece of plastic. I replaced mine with a steel follower from Steve's Gunz.

The finish on the wood was not only bland, but it didn't seal the wood well, either. I gave it a couple coats of Watco Danish Oil to better protect the stocks. Boiled linseed oil, tung oil, or a sprayed on polyurethane would also work well.

Browning's design does not lend itself to easy takedown. The good thing is that takedown is rarely required. Marlins are much better in this regard.

Steve's Gunz has a good DVD on slicking up the Rossi 92s.

As an aside, Rossi's quality control can sometimes be a little spotty. Years ago I had an 1892 Short Rifle in .357 made by Rossi for EMF. It had a 20" octagonal barrel, crescent buttplate, and no barrel band around the forearm. It was a beautiful rifle but when I first got it, it gave me extraction problems. Rossi had me send it in and they fixed it, but this was a hassle. At some point I traded it off but I do regret that.

The pistol caliber lever actions give you a light, fast handling rifle that fires an effective cartridge, can be operated quickly, and especially in .357 and .45 Colt, has mild recoil. It's worth a look for home or property defense if you can't have a modern rifle.

3 comments:

It doesn't hold a lot of rounds, but then it doesn't need a lot of rounds. My father used this rifle to kill a six-point Mule Deer back in the Depression. (That's six points on each side, folks.) The firing pin broke about 40 years ago, which is why my father gave it to me. My uncle milled me a new one, and also brazed the old one back together.

Well said. A lot of 19th century Latin American'revolutionaries' agreed with you, using lever action rifles for their skirmishes. Many rural LEO agencies probably still have a few of these as patrol rifles, at least as a backup role.

No long range wonder but for urban ranges, not a problem. That quiet report is in fact desirable when shooting in confined spaces / indoors - full power loads in those conditions will really ring your bell ! Given a receiver aperture sight (Lyman - Williams), they become even better.

One caution:If you plan to use a lever-action for home defense, test it (empty, of course) where you plan to use it. If your plan is to stay in the bedroom, crouch behind the bed, and wait for the bad guy to come to you (a good plan if there are no kids to worry about), get behind the bed and work the action. Make sure the action won't be blocked by the bed or fouled in bedclothes. (If you're woken up at 2 a.m., the bed won't be made. Jump out of the bed and try it with the blankets and sheets rumpled up on the bed.) Do the same with any dresser or couch you plan to use for concealment. One reason the lever action was never used by any military is that it couldn't be cycled in the prone position. Crouching behind a bed or piece of furniture can be thought of as the functional equivalent of prone. Make sure you can cycle the action with no problems.

Dave Markowitz's shared items

Followers

Oleg Volk

Gun Blog Black List

Subscribe To

Feedburner

A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects.

-Robert A. Heinlein

Copyright Notice

This blog and its contents are Copyright Dave Markowitz, all rights reserved.